Phyllis Smith

Thur and Friday, hybrid

Not working on weekends or Bank Holidays

I am an accredited member of BACP. I am specialised in counselling adults who are suffering from anxiety, depression and stress. Sometimes we have difficult relationship with our friends and families; or we are at a crossroad of our lives struggling to make good decisions; or we are struggling with the conflicts between where we are brought up and where we are now. Whatever the reason, people come to counselling to be listened to, to find practical ways to improve their lives and seek understanding of where they are at and what they want for their lives. I will be your counsellor to facilitate that. 

As an integrative counsellor, I adopt counselling approaches that cater for clients' needs depending on their issues, personality traits, age, ethnic and cultural background and most important of all, their personal preferences in how they want counselling to work for them. I provide the space and freedom for my clients to share what they want to share, to be themselves and to become whom they aspire to be.

Counselling can be a daunting experience, especially if you haven't done it before. It is my job to reassure you at our initial assessment session that counselling is what you are seeking and if not I may be able to signpost you on to other agencies. The initial assessment session is also an opportunity for us to meet and understand a bit about each other, have a preliminary discussion of the issues you want to focus on and for you to decide whether we can work together in this collaborative partnership.

New clients are encouraged to contact me by email or by phone to make initial enquiries.  It would be useful if they can tell me a little bit of their background and the reasons for counselling. They are more than welcome to ask any questions that will help them to decide if counselling is for them.  

As an integrative counsellor, I adopt different approaches in my counselling depending on the client's needs and preferences.  It's not an 'one size fits all' approach.  This also depends on whether the client is looking for short-term (6-12 weeks) or long-term (open-end) therapy and how the client likes to work with me, e.g. some prefer a more structured approach whereas others prefer 'free-style' talking therapy.  My aim is to provide an environment to facilitate these needs and preferences in my practice so that my clients will find it safe and comfortable to engage in each session.

Each session is 50 minutes long.  Sessions can be done by telephone, on Zoom or in person.

The first session is an initial assessment session where I will try to understand:

• the reasons for your counselling
• your family, work, relationship (if any)
• your experience in counselling
• your medical history, especially mental health (if applicable)
• your queries about counselling 

We'll discuss what you are looking for in counselling and whether counselling is the right thing for you. I'll try my best to answer some of the questions in your mind.

We'll agree on or discuss:

• number of sessions you will have initially
• the approaches we'll work with
• counselling time and fees
• confidentiality 
• privacy policy
• cancellation policy

 The initial assessment session will then be followed by proper counselling sessions, usually on a weekly basis.